Hay Fever: Symptoms and Treatment

Hay fever (hay fever) - one of the most common types of allergies.As an allergen in this case is the pollen, so the disease is seasonal.The disease is being studied for a long time, but only recently have scientists hay fever attributed to hereditary diseases.The human body were discovered the genes responsible for the development of an allergic reaction.In most cases the disease manifests during childhood.Let's talk about the symptoms and treatments of this disease.

Content

1 symptoms of hay fever

1.1 Allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis

1.2 asthma and damage the respiratory tract

1.3 Cutaneous manifestations of hay fever

2 Diagnosticshay fever

3 treatment of hay fever

3.1 Drug therapy

3.2 Allergen-specific immunotherapy (desensitization)

allergy causing pollen, not only colors, as many think, butand cereals, both cultural and wild, weeds and trees.In Russia, you can conventionally delimit the period of three dusting plants:

concentration of pollen in the

air is maximum in the daytime, in dry and windy weather.

Many people mistakenly believe that allergy to pollen can take place only in the form of rhinitis and conjunctivitis.This is the most common form of hay fever, but it can occur as a defeat of the upper respiratory tract, asthma and skin manifestations of the disease.

The clinic symptoms of allergic rhinitis are the leading nasal congestion, rhinorrhea (separation of the nasal passages clear of mucus), itching in the nose, sneezing attacks, and the patient can dominate one of the symptoms.People with hay fever often have co-morbidities such as sinusitis, adenoids, nasal polyps, the development of which is due to factors such as the swelling of the mucous membrane of the nasal passages and sinuses, the formation of excessive amounts of mucus, the outflow of which is often difficult, joining a bacterial infectionet al.

In most cases rhinitis accompanied by conjunctivitis.Eye involvement is bilateral, there is a pronounced redness of the conjunctiva of the eyeball and eyelids, tearing, itching and burning in the eyes, and sometimes photophobia.

for asthma caused by hay fever, is characterized by seasonality of exacerbations, clearly coinciding with the period of flowering of certain plants.The disease usually develops after hay fever in the past several years proceeded as seasonal allergic rhinitis or tracheobronchitis.After the termination of flowering plants allergens normal patency of the bronchi is restored, in winter there are no attacks.It should be noted that 20% of people with asthma different etiology, and suffering pollinosis, during dusting plant number and severity of attacks have increased.

In some cases, there are symptoms of hay fever and skin, such as hives (red rash, severe itching of the skin), angioedema, and even atopic or contact dermatitis.

Interestingly, when the hay fever is rare defeat one organ, usually a combination of allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, or other manifestations of the disease.In addition, many patients during the pollination of plants observed and general symptoms: fatigue, insomnia, excessive sweating, headaches, sometimes the temperature increase to subfebrile values, which may persist for a long time.By the way, it survived the disease formerly known as "hay fever", as was previously thought that hay fever mainly affects people in rural areas, where a lot of hay.

I would also like to focus on the fact that plants can be dangerous for people suffering from this disease, not only in the flowering period.They may be formulated into herbal medicines taken by mouth, for inhalation, bathing children, enemas and other procedures.Also, a large amount of pollen contained in honey.Do not rule out the possibility of so-called "cross-react" with some products - potential allergens such as nuts, some fruits (peaches, cherries, strawberries).Adults should pay attention to drink beverages containing alcohol: many of the balms, bitters, vermouth and other drinks are included grass.

In the case of suspected hay fever is necessary to address to the allergist for a diagnosis and prescribing treatment.Patients received blood, secretions from the nose, conjunctiva and phlegm;an allergic nature of the disease in the material will be determined by the increased accumulation of eosinophils.Also it carried out blood tests to detect specific antibodies produced in response to the allergen from entering the body.

then necessary to determine the plant, which was the pollen allergen to the patient, to this end, he performed allergological skin tests.They are carried out only in remission of the disease (preferably in the winter), and not earlier than 2-3 weeks after the cancellation of antihistamines.At the same time can put skin tests with 5-10 or more allergens, depending on the age, state of health and the individual patient.Typically, this method of diagnosis allows to identify the allergen.

If the skin test is negative, but the history, clinical and laboratory studies indicate hay fever, the patient may be made provocative test (nasal or conjunctival).They are held only in a hospital under the supervision of an allergist.

The first step is to minimize exposure to the allergen into the body.During the period of flowering plants, causing worsening of the disease, should refuse to visit parks, forests, meadows and other places where they grow in large numbers.In order to reduce the amount of pollen in the rooms, windows and vents need to curtain cloth, airing is best done at night, in the morning and evening every day to perform wet cleaning.It is also better to abandon the cultivation of flowering plants at home, not to put bouquets of fresh and dried flowers.From the room, which is home to a person suffering from hay fever, it is necessary to remove all the carpets and soft toys.

From diet to exclude foods that can cause cross-allergies (eggs, ham, some fruits, honey and other bee products, products with dyes, etc..), While hay fever aggravated by flowering cereal, reduce the amount of oat, semolina, wheat, barley cereals and baked goods.

Medication appointed doctor.Uses advanced antihistamines, inhaled steroids, anti-inflammatory and symptomatic agents (vasoconstrictors).The dosages of drugs prescribed by a doctor, treatment usually lasts for the whole period of flowering plants, the pollen that causes allergies.Uncontrolled taking any medicines unacceptable.

To date, this method is not only symptomatic and pathogenetic treatment of hay fever.Before therapy is necessary to ascertain the plant, pollen is an allergen for the patient.Hyposensitization therapy is usually carried out during remission of the disease lasts for several months and should be finished no later than 3 weeks before flowering plants dusting.

principle of treatment based on the administration to a patient of the allergen in gradually increasing doses, which leads to lower sensitivity to it.Allergens are administered in most cases intra- or subcutaneous injection, in some cases, intramuscularly or intranasally.The injections are performed once or twice a week for 4-5 months.This allergen duration of the course of therapy because the dose of allergen is increased very slowly, and the injection is rarely done.With the rapid increase in dose, or small intervals between injections possible development of local (swelling at the injection site) and general (an attack of asthma, angioedema, urticaria, in rare cases, anaphylactic shock) complications.

Thus, hay fever with modern methods of diagnosis and treatment of time spent does not cause much discomfort to the patient.We remind you that drugs can be prescribed only by a doctor.Compliance with all of its recommendations - the key to improving the quality of human life.